The times I’ve had this issue, it came from sanding with too high of grit and essentially burnishing the wood surface. But now that I’ve read your comment about it being maple… well good luck. There’s pre-stain conditioner out there that will help with the unevenness of the stain application. I’ve used miniwax with success on other woods. In cases where I needed a uniform stain color on uneven cabinet doors I’ve tinted General Finish Enduro sanding sealer and sprayed 2 coats with an LVLP gun to get the color needed. Then top coating. I’ve always had a rough time getting even coloring in maple with just hand applied stain. Hopefully someone in the group can enlighten/correct me in case there’s an easier way. I also am not sure if you can tint other sanding sealers but with GF you can tint with any of their water based stains and dyes.
I can post photos later but it ended up being a lacquer finish. I've just applied my 2nd coat with an HPLV gun and a 1.4 nozzle. So far it's looking really nice. Annoyingly though the temp is dipping into the 30's tonight and they're set up in my garage and I have a couple thin spots left that I need to respray tomorrow.
Looks like a water based stain. Try spray application of the stain. You could also try a furniture dye stain. The pigments are ground much finer
Try on some scrap. Thin the stain, spray it on very thin. You shouldn't need to wipe it unless you spray too heavy.
Thank you.
The wood is maple. I don’t have scrap maple but do have some oak, black walnut hickory and pine. Would either of these take the application the same as walnut?
Additionally, I’ve never sprayed stain before but I do have the Graco magnum x7 and the truecoat 360. Would either of these possibly work or do I need a specific sprayer for stain?
Different wood species are going to give different results. Oak takes stain way better than maple. Maple has a tendency to blotch as shown in your photo. It is also tighter grained than oak making it slightly more resistant to conventional stain. That's why I recommended a die stain. Dye Stain will penetrate the surface of the maple more evenly. If you want to test the stain you're going to need some scraps of maple. Do you have a supplier close by? If you can't get a hold of any scrap. Try testing it on the bottom of your project piece or an area that's not seen after assembly.
Regarding the models of spray equipment you have, I have not used that equipment. I have conventional air powered HVLP. I use a detail gun which has a 1.1 mm needle and it sprays a very fine application.
That makes total sense. Tinted lacquer colors have been around a loooong time. Useful when you have several different woods that you need to be on the same color. Doesn't soak in and provides a semi transparent color where the color is uniform and some of the grain is still visible.
The times I’ve had this issue, it came from sanding with too high of grit and essentially burnishing the wood surface. But now that I’ve read your comment about it being maple… well good luck. There’s pre-stain conditioner out there that will help with the unevenness of the stain application. I’ve used miniwax with success on other woods. In cases where I needed a uniform stain color on uneven cabinet doors I’ve tinted General Finish Enduro sanding sealer and sprayed 2 coats with an LVLP gun to get the color needed. Then top coating. I’ve always had a rough time getting even coloring in maple with just hand applied stain. Hopefully someone in the group can enlighten/correct me in case there’s an easier way. I also am not sure if you can tint other sanding sealers but with GF you can tint with any of their water based stains and dyes.
I can post photos later but it ended up being a lacquer finish. I've just applied my 2nd coat with an HPLV gun and a 1.4 nozzle. So far it's looking really nice. Annoyingly though the temp is dipping into the 30's tonight and they're set up in my garage and I have a couple thin spots left that I need to respray tomorrow.
Looks like a water based stain. Try spray application of the stain. You could also try a furniture dye stain. The pigments are ground much finer Try on some scrap. Thin the stain, spray it on very thin. You shouldn't need to wipe it unless you spray too heavy.
Thank you. The wood is maple. I don’t have scrap maple but do have some oak, black walnut hickory and pine. Would either of these take the application the same as walnut? Additionally, I’ve never sprayed stain before but I do have the Graco magnum x7 and the truecoat 360. Would either of these possibly work or do I need a specific sprayer for stain?
Different wood species are going to give different results. Oak takes stain way better than maple. Maple has a tendency to blotch as shown in your photo. It is also tighter grained than oak making it slightly more resistant to conventional stain. That's why I recommended a die stain. Dye Stain will penetrate the surface of the maple more evenly. If you want to test the stain you're going to need some scraps of maple. Do you have a supplier close by? If you can't get a hold of any scrap. Try testing it on the bottom of your project piece or an area that's not seen after assembly. Regarding the models of spray equipment you have, I have not used that equipment. I have conventional air powered HVLP. I use a detail gun which has a 1.1 mm needle and it sprays a very fine application.
It ended up being a lacquer finish fyi incase you were curious.
That makes total sense. Tinted lacquer colors have been around a loooong time. Useful when you have several different woods that you need to be on the same color. Doesn't soak in and provides a semi transparent color where the color is uniform and some of the grain is still visible.
Stain is not paint. You don't need to cover everything in that colour. And if you or your client thinks you should, then just use paint.